Swimming pool covers offer numerous benefits for swimming pool owners. The use of a swimming pool cover is important for reducing heat loss from the swimming pool as well as for reducing fouling by blown leaves and other debris. The use of a swimming pool cover prevents the waste of energy gains, such as for example sunlight, by preventing evaporation. The swimming pool cover converts the swimming pool into a highly efficient energy storage system.
Covers for swimming pools have been widely described over the past years. Most of the described swimming pool covers are formed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and comprise a plurality of hollow elements which in general have a substantially rectangular or square shape in cross-section. The hollow elements are filled with air and closed with buttons or sealing plugs, and float on the water of the swimming pool. In most cases, the swimming pool covers serve as protection means and as means for isolating the water from the atmosphere. They provide reduction of consumption of energy necessary for warming up the water.
A problem that arises is that swimming pools are not of standard width. This means that the cover must be cut to length. If hollow flotation elements are used, these will need to be sealed. The seals have to be made easily and reliably and preferably at the place where the strips are stored, i.e. not necessarily at the place of manufacture of the strips.
It is known in the prior art to seal plugs into the hollow flotation elements by gluing them with, for example, silicone or any other suitable gluing material. However, a drying period of about 5 days is required and hence, due to the long drying period, a lot of storage place is necessary, which is known to be a problem.
FR-A-2 747 717 describes a sealing plug which can be inserted into a strip comprising a number of hollow flotation elements. The sealing plug comprises an end plate and protrusions extending from the end plate. Each protrusion comprises tongues or spines. It is a disadvantage of the disclosed sealing plug that it does not liquid-tightly seal the hollow flotation elements.